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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoCOURTNEY SPRADLIN | LOG CABIN DEMOCRAT (CONWAY, ARK.)A cleanup-crew member working for ExxonMobil washes oil from another crew member’s boots in the Northwoods subdivision in Mayflower, Ark., about 20 miles northwest of Little Rock.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas yesterday launched an investigation into an Exxon Mobil pipeline
rupture that spilled thousands of barrels of crude oil into a housing development last week. Rain
was forecast to complicate the cleanup.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked Exxon to preserve all documents and information
related to Friday’s spill and ongoing recovery at the site in Mayflower, about 20 miles northwest
of Little Rock.

“This incident has damaged private property and Arkansas’s natural resources. Homeowners have
been forced from their homes,” McDaniel said in a statement. Asking Exxon to secure the documents
is the “first step in determining what happened and preserving evidence for any future litigation,”
he said.

Exxon spokeswoman Kim Jordan said the company will “cooperate fully” with any investigation.

The spill from Exxon’s 848-mile Pegasus line, which covered lawns and snaked down residential
streets, forced the evacuation of 22 homes as police blockaded the area.

The incident has received widespread attention and stoked a national debate about the safety of
carrying rising volumes of heavy crude from Canada into the United States.

Some environmentalists have used the incident to illustrate why pipelines, such as the proposed
Keystone XL line that would carry Canadian crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast, should not be built.

Exxon said in a statement yesterday that 14 “oiled” ducks, two turtles and one muskrat have been
recovered for treatment after the spill. Two other ducks were found dead, the company said.

The pipeline remained shut yesterday, and Exxon had yet to say how long repairs would take and
when the pipeline might reopen. It was unclear how much oil had been spilled, though the company
said yesterday that 12,000 barrels of water and oil had been recovered.

A plan to allow residents to return to their homes was being worked on, Exxon said.